Fall Challenge Reflection
As the Fall Challenge comes to an end, I like to reflect on the habits that keep my home functioning and the transitions in the world.
Habits are what keep me organized, and a collection of habits have created a system that keeps me on top of my home and my life running well.
The first step in a habit is a trigger. A trigger is what causes you to complete an action. For many of us, waking up triggers us to make coffee. For me, after I make coffee, I always put the dishes away. I don’t think about it, I just do it. This triggers me to get my lunch dishes out, which then triggers me to make my lunch. While this may seem boring, and routine, in someway it is freeing. I do these things almost without thinking, thus, I do them quickly and (almost) always. This frees my mind and my time up for other things I love to do.
One big trigger for me is the changing of the leaves. When I see the leaves start to transition, I know it is time for me to transition my home as well. I start monitoring the weather, and slowly switch out my summer and winter clothes.
My toddler is just now noticing the changes. On Veterans day we took a train ride up the Hudson Valley to the Village of Cold Springs. The train goes right along the Hudson River and the view of the colors was magnificent. We caught a good day too. We were walking a long the river in Cold Springs under the beautiful trees when the wind caught at just the right angle and the trees showered us with leaves. It was magical as my son looked up to me and said, "Mama? Leaves fall." And we had a conversation about the changing of the seasons and how the leaves will die, but they always come back. He is too young to really understand the significance of that, but it made me thing about how some of the best habits and systems in my life and in my home management strategy are actually cyclical. They are never done and always in process — the same way the leaves always die and come back.
And, last, but certainly not least, I like to thank those of you who shared me on on your Fall Challenge journey. I know that our challenge winner uses it to keep those sweaters nice and organized, and I hope all of you will join in my next transition — the welcoming of the new year.
